Is the whole world uphill today?

Today was bright, sunny, and extremely warm.  There was an occasional light shower, but they never bothered us as they were brief and only occurred then we were inside some place.  By this time most of us have decided that we did not make good packing choices.  We should have packed more summer-type clothing.  Temps In the nineties?  But this is October.  Who knew?

We made our first stop at a church honoring the Lord's Prayer...supposedly built on the traditional site of this event.

From there we went to the overlook from the Mount of Olives that offers the traditional view of the old city.  This was an up-hill walk from where we were.  We took our group photo there at the overlook.  There Barry and Gus described what we were seeing as it related to the Bible.  Barry pointed out the City of David and the various areas in the city where Jesus was taken during the hours before the crucifiction.  

There was a local man at this site who had his camel with him.  He offered brief (very!) rides for $5.  A few of us decided to take him up on the offer.  Garry and Carol went first.

Dan and I decided it would be a perfect cousin-bonding experience.  If you have never had the opportunity to ride a camel, let me tell you that when the beast moves from a sitting to a standing position it is an interesting sensation, to say the least.  We weren't the only ones who chose to do this, and we all decided that having a photo of us on a camel was a wonderful souvenir to take home, and we don't have to dust it!  Five dollars well-spent!

We walked from the overlook down the Mount of Olives to the Church of All Nations, which is built of the traditional site of Jesus' agony on the night He was betrayed.  Inside the church, in an enclosed area is the supposed rock on which Jesus prayed.  Barry explained other sights to us as the group waited on the steps of the church.

Our next stop was at the City of David archaeological site.  There were many steps here...almost all uphill, of course.  Archaeologists and historians have discovered what they believe to be the site of King David's house.  It makes sense to me because from that site we could see the rooftops of many houses below.  We advised the men in our group to avert their eyes in case any Bathshebas happened to be bathing...but most of what we saw was clotheslines on the rooftops today.  Apparently these people have to hang their clothes out to dry, too.

After touring the site, most of us rolled up pants' legs, donned head-lights, and got ready to walk through Hezekiah's tunnel.  At first the water seemed cold, but when we got used to it, it felt very refreshing.  The tunnel is a difficult place to take photos, but is a nice memory to take home...the fact that we actually walked through a water tunnel dug in the time of Hezekiah.  Shawn walked ahead of me, and Dan walked behind me through the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel Garry and Joyce posed for a photo.

Long ago and far away I taught kindergarten, and a senior girl worked as my student aide.  Sandra and I never dreamed that many years later we would walk through Hezekiah's tunnel together!

We had the option of walking through a second tunnel next.  This was a tunnel that started out as a street at the time Jerusalem was destroyed, and part of it was an ancient sewage tunnel where many Jews hid during the destruction.  This is extremely interesting, but is a fairly long uphill climb.  Since I had done this on an earlier a trip, I opted out of this effort.  I was in the group that was supposed to walk on the road.  That turned out to be quite an uphill pull also.  Gus noticed that we were struggling, and he stopped a local bus and talked the driver into giving our group a ride to the top.  Thanks, Gus!

After lunch we drove to Bethlehem to visit the Kando store.  This store has souvenirs and antiquities for sale...something to suit each pocketbook.  Their main item of interest is one of the four original jars that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in.  In the photo Mr. Kando posed by the Dead Sea scrolls jar with Barry.

As we were leaving the store, Gus was telling us that we were headed for the Church of the Nativity in Jerusalem.  He told us that there would probably be a crowd and we should look out for pickpockets who would be looking for our money.  Hearing this warning, Shawn replied, "After stopping at Kando's we ain't got that problem anymore!"

We parked the bus in a parking garage and walked (you guessed it) uphill to the Church of the Nativity, which is built over the traditional place of the birth of Christ.  It was very warm in the church while we waited, and the actual site was in the ho-hum category for me.  There is, however, an interesting cave beneath the church where Jerome translated the Bible.  Interesting, but to get out you have to climb up many stairs. Another uphill adventure.

On the walk back to the bus, Norm and others strayed from the path to buy a souvenir...a coffee cup from the "Stars and Bucks" coffee house in Bethlehem.  Norm was proud of his purchase, but Mike looks a little envious.

Back to the hotel for the night.  It is uphill to my room on the ninth floor, but I am thankful there are wonderful elevators to help me make that uphill climb.

I hope your accomplishments today are not uphill struggles...and if they are, remember that uphill struggles make you stronger!